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There’s nothing noble about this fight

Published: Monday, October 7, 2013 at 2:02 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, October 7, 2013 at 2:02 p.m.

What makes America different from any other country in the world? One of the most important answers to that question is that we are a nation governed by leaders chosen by the people.

News venues around the world are littered with stories of countries where this is not the case. In many nations, “democratically run” elections are nothing more than shams to rubber stamp a leader of a specifi c faction that aims to dominate the rest of the country and squash opposing factions.

One of the most haunting realizations of recent days is the heartbreaking irony that America has spent God only knows how many billions of dollars on a war to “procure the right to vote in Iraq,” and yet here we sit, as I write this column, with a group of elected officials who are trying to hold our government hostage.

This might actually be a noble fight if the cause that Republicans and Democrats continue to fight over were some heinous demand by the government to which no morally upright person would ever subscribe. But the cause we are fighting over is anything but morally reprehensible. And this fight is anything but noble.

Put simply, a small faction of the majority party in the House is trying to strangle the government into submission by refusing to pay legitimate bills in order to strong-arm the current administration into giving it what it wants. At first, that goal was the reversal of the Affordable Care Act. Now that faction is demanding a one-year delay of the ACA’s enactment.

This is government by collusion and intrigue, backed by those with the money or the power to “wait it out” while they bring the legally elected government to a standstill.

These are people who don’t have to worry about health care. They can afford any insurance policy they want. They are also people who don’t want to pony up when it comes to helping those on the lower rung of society receive the health care they cannot afford by themselves. In this scenario, the poor are seen as “milking the system.”

But what are the alternatives for a poor family with a sick member who is denied health insurance or offered a plan that the family members can’t possibly afford? The simple answer is that they struggle along until the sick member gets truly sicker or a catastrophe happens, and then they go to the emergency room. And the rest of the country pays for it.

The ACA seeks to remedy this untenable situation by asking all to contribute to universal health care according to their income level instead of shifting the bulk of the cost to a struggling middle class where fewer and fewer can afford the skyrocketing cost of health care, and even health insurance.

In other words, we are fighting for the poor and the struggling of the middle class to be able to receive the medical care they need and deserve without bankrupting the American economy.

Those who oppose such legislation refuse to admit that staying with the system we now have is far more expensive than the ACA will ultimately be because everyone but the poorest of the poor will be contributing. If members of Congress would work together on problem solving instead of sabotaging the program before it’s even off the ground, this would be more and more obvious.

In the end, we are ultimately deciding who gets to live a fruitful and productive life in America, and who must linger on the fringes without the basic health care a normal family needs to survive, let alone to actually thrive.

It’s no secret that the Republican Party is united in its opposition to the ACA, also known as Obamacare. But a small yet powerful faction of the Republican Party, which has been allowed to kidnap the common sense of the rest of its party, has taken its opposition to a whole new level of disrespect for the governing process put in place by the Founding Fathers.

Members of this faction are fighting for the right to refuse to implement the legislation that the admin-istration has accomplished. They have shut down the government with their unethical abuse of the legislative process.

More than that, whether they realize it or not, this group would end up creating a type of feudal system in which a servant class would hobble along with minimal health care.

The question we are really deciding right now is, are we going to let them?

<p>What makes America different from any other country in the world? One of the most important answers to that question is that we are a nation governed by leaders chosen by the people.</p><p>News venues around the world are littered with stories of countries where this is not the case. In many nations, “democratically run” elections are nothing more than shams to rubber stamp a leader of a specifi c faction that aims to dominate the rest of the country and squash opposing factions.</p><p>One of the most haunting realizations of recent days is the heartbreaking irony that America has spent God only knows how many billions of dollars on a war to “procure the right to vote in Iraq,” and yet here we sit, as I write this column, with a group of elected officials who are trying to hold our government hostage.</p><p>This might actually be a noble fight if the cause that Republicans and Democrats continue to fight over were some heinous demand by the government to which no morally upright person would ever subscribe. But the cause we are fighting over is anything but morally reprehensible. And this fight is anything but noble.</p><p>Put simply, a small faction of the majority party in the House is trying to strangle the government into submission by refusing to pay legitimate bills in order to strong-arm the current administration into giving it what it wants. At first, that goal was the reversal of the Affordable Care Act. Now that faction is demanding a one-year delay of the ACA's enactment.</p><p>This is government by collusion and intrigue, backed by those with the money or the power to “wait it out” while they bring the legally elected government to a standstill.</p><p>These are people who don't have to worry about health care. They can afford any insurance policy they want. They are also people who don't want to pony up when it comes to helping those on the lower rung of society receive the health care they cannot afford by themselves. In this scenario, the poor are seen as “milking the system.”</p><p>But what are the alternatives for a poor family with a sick member who is denied health insurance or offered a plan that the family members can't possibly afford? The simple answer is that they struggle along until the sick member gets truly sicker or a catastrophe happens, and then they go to the emergency room. And the rest of the country pays for it.</p><p>The ACA seeks to remedy this untenable situation by asking all to contribute to universal health care according to their income level instead of shifting the bulk of the cost to a struggling middle class where fewer and fewer can afford the skyrocketing cost of health care, and even health insurance.</p><p>In other words, we are fighting for the poor and the struggling of the middle class to be able to receive the medical care they need and deserve without bankrupting the American economy.</p><p>Those who oppose such legislation refuse to admit that staying with the system we now have is far more expensive than the ACA will ultimately be because everyone but the poorest of the poor will be contributing. If members of Congress would work together on problem solving instead of sabotaging the program before it's even off the ground, this would be more and more obvious.</p><p>In the end, we are ultimately deciding who gets to live a fruitful and productive life in America, and who must linger on the fringes without the basic health care a normal family needs to survive, let alone to actually thrive.</p><p>It's no secret that the Republican Party is united in its opposition to the ACA, also known as Obamacare. But a small yet powerful faction of the Republican Party, which has been allowed to kidnap the common sense of the rest of its party, has taken its opposition to a whole new level of disrespect for the governing process put in place by the Founding Fathers.</p><p>Members of this faction are fighting for the right to refuse to implement the legislation that the admin-istration has accomplished. They have shut down the government with their unethical abuse of the legislative process.</p><p>More than that, whether they realize it or not, this group would end up creating a type of feudal system in which a servant class would hobble along with minimal health care.</p><p>The question we are really deciding right now is, are we going to let them?</p>